Superman holiday ☀️💪🏼
Intro
I thought I’d do a little blog during my triathlon camp with local IRONMAN legend Joe Skipper http://joeskipper.co.uk/
This is a 4 day training experience of swimming, cycling & running in beautiful San Remo in Italy 🇮🇹. The camp is run by Atutta https://www.atutta.cc/training-camps
I’m mega excited about the challenge especially cycling up the famous ‘Madone’ climb 🚲 🏔 and improving the technique of my running 🏃🏻♂️ and swimming 🏊♂️
One of our Dynamic Clients, last year’s Lord Mayor of Norwich, called it a ‘Superman holiday’. I quite liked the sound of that.
Stand by for Day 1 ….
Day 1
(Swim 2k - Bike 87k - Run 7k)
Great settle in dinner last night at the hotel - Gnocchi followed by Salmon (Carbs & Protein) and I woke today feeling fresh and ready to pump it 💪🏼
Slight issue with my bike however….
I watched as the airport staff in Nice threw all the bags off the plane, including my bike! This bent the rear mech hanger beyond repair so Tom (our group leader) got me a hire bike - I was pleased it was an Italian Colagno 🇮🇹 👍
Swim
One of the things I wanted to get from the trip was to improve my swim technique
The session was a great way to ease me in to the training - we did a solid warm up of 10 x 100m (with a different set every 100m) then got some video footage done which we’ll look at tonight.
It was the first 2k since my broken collar bone and it felt good! 🦴 💪🏼
Bike
Wow! What a climb 🏔 The Italian Riveria is stunning but being from Norfolk I was not used to these mountains! It was around 1.5hrs of pure climbing but riding next to Joe for parts on the way up was cool - even though my HR was always at least 30bpm higher than his!
We eventually got to a beautiful village called Bajardo the view was incredible
What comes up must come down! And I got ready for the longest decent in my life - even more than the Rocky Mountains in IRONMAN Canada 🇨🇦
We had a ‘little’ incident when Joe spotted a black cat on a bend and came off! Luckily no harm done but a warning shot to us all about keeping it steady. We have now called this famous spot ‘black corner’ 🐈
An amazing ride back with a lovely coffee stop. I was pushing it as hard as ever back past San Remo and it felt good! 🚴
Run
This sounded like a simple session - 30 mins (15 mins out and 15 mins back faster than you run out)
We ran along the coast road and it was stunning ☀️
I set off at close to my 5k pace but this was too fast so I had to ease back a touch so I could finish as strong on the way back!
By this point my legs was burning from the cycling and I gave it everything I could to maintain the exact pace on the way back.
An awesome day of training (probably my hardest EVER) but this place is great. Atutta is awesome and I’m looking forward to the rest of the trip with these super strong lads
Day 2
Swim 2k - Bike 67k - Swim (Tech) - Run 8k
Another fantastic meal last night - this time it was pesto pasta for the carbs (pesto is local to this area of Italy) and Octopus for protein (you may want to look away now 🐙 …. )
Swim
The day started again at the local pool.
Last night we had a 1-2-1 swim analysis from our swim yesterday. Andrea, an ex-Italian swimming champion, took some great footage and identified one main area for me to work on - my reach. “You need to do less breaking when your arms go into the water”. It made sense, so myself and Dan had a great session working to improve this.
Meanwhile, Joe and Mark were pumping it hard in the other lane! 🏊♂️ 💪🏼
Bike
This was spectacular! It was a agreed that we would do a ‘short’ ride to save the legs for the big one tomorrow so we rode through the valley and then a short 6k climb to the most beautiful town called Triora…
The descent back down was mega (for me) - I’ve never been down climbs like this, so fast and long, it was awesome ⛰ 🚴 💨
When we got back into town we had a nice focaccia in the sunshine ☀️ - it was 26 degrees out here today on the 26th October!
Swim (technique)
Next up we got to use the endless pool. I was excited about this as I’m thinking of investing in one back home - it’s amazing for Stroke analysis and they double up as a jacuzzi! 🥂
The feel of the pool is great and you use an app to set the speed. We did 5 mins at 1:50/100m pace and will look at the analysis tomorrow night..
Run
Today’s run was all about looking at technique. We did a 20 min warm up and Dan added in some great drills to get the heart rate up ❤️
Then Tom set up some filming alongside the marina next to some palm trees 🌴 This is a ‘nee bad’ place to train!
I did 3 laps - 10k pace, then a bit faster, then my 5k PB pace. I’m looking forward to seeing the footage and getting some tips for my clients and the Redwell Run Club when I get back 🏃🏻♂️
We finished with running home with the sun setting over the water 🌅
Day 3
Cycle 120k - Open water Swim 1k - Run 2k
Last night’s dinner pic was ‘Joe’s salad’ - he added some super ripe figs and lush green avocado 🥑 to a Chicken Caesar. I feel his cookbook coming soon - with the best raw food cakes and finest coffee ☕️ 😃
Bike
This was the part I was a bit worried about. I haven’t cycled 75 miles in a very long time and this ride included the famous ‘Col de Madone’ climb 🏔
We rode into France 🇫🇷 and reached the foot of the climb after 40k. Then out came the tunes to attack this beast of a mountain. I can honestly say I haven’t experienced hills like these but with this group of athletes anything was possible and I wasn’t going to stop pumping it 💪🏼
The climb was awesome and contributed to a total of 1500m of vertical climbing during the ride. On the way home we casually cruised past Monaco 🇲🇨 (next time when I’m not wearing Lycra I’ll pop into the casino and win a million 💵 )
Swim
It’s hard for me to be this close to the sea and not go in! So, I decided to don the wetsuit and do a little swim to help plan a place to do our bigger open water swim in the morning. The bay is beautiful here and the water is super calm. The locals probably thought I was crazy 😜
Run
This was really just a nice recovery jog and an excuse to run around this beautiful town on Santo Stefano and take in the sunset. It’s stunning out here 🇮🇹 ☀️
Day 4
Open water Swim 2k - Bike 41k - Run 8k
Last night was swordfish (protein) and pizza (carbs). The Italians definitely live up to their reputation of incredible pizza - it was amazing! 🍕
Swim
This spot in the Ligurian sea is perfect for Open water swimming - the sea defences make the water shallow and calm, and there are plenty of nice fish to look at too 🐠
Joe made up a great set including some fast 50m efforts and a flat out 100m to finish - me and Dan did it in 1:33, which I’m happy with.
I did drop my phone in the sea, but it lodged in between a rock and luckily I found it! 🍀 So the blog continues 😃…
Bike
After I thought all the cycling was done Tom decided it would be good to do a short ride including some of the famous climbs of the Milan to San Remo race - the Cipressa & the Poggio! 🏔 🏔
He was right, they are awesome short climbs and I still had enough in the legs to give them a final blast! 🚴
Run
What I thought was going to be a gentle jog to finish turned into a 7.3k hard run!
I was able to keep the pace up to 5k (which is what I’m used too) then I had to ease it back a bit to hold on and finish the final challenge of the trip!
I then finished with a cool down jog around beautiful Santo Stefano to recover.
Summary
The last thing we did was sit down with Joe & Tom over lunch and look at our Running Technique. We also sampled some of the new menu - the new octopus and cod bagels were super tasty!
For my running it looks like I can do a bit to improve my foot position on landing, and also re-structure my run sessions a bit to get faster.
I’ll be looking forward to sharing all the knowledge I’ve learned with my clients and hitting my new Parkrun PB!
I am also hoping to offer a Dynamic Fitness trip for clients looking to improve their swim, cycling and running. It really is a beautiful part of Italy 🇮🇹 and a fantastic set up for people of all levels - stand by for more details…
Now it’s time for one a well-earned beer before heading home. It’s been an incredible trip - thanks to Joe, Mark, Dan, Tom, Andrea and all the amazing staff at Atutta! 🏊♂️ 🚴 🏃🏻♂️
Beginners Cycle Ride 2019 (Photos)
Such a lovely group of people, and fantastic weather, for this beautiful cycle ride around Norwich
Summer Social 2019 (Photos)
What a great time we had this year at Redwell Brewing.
The Sports Day games were great fun too - thanks to everyone for getting involved!
Plank Challenge 2018 (Results)
What an amazing effort by Team Dynamic at the Plank Challenge!
Times
Michael Pugh - 8:07
James Birtwhistle - 8:10
Rachele Kelsall - 6:03
David Walker - 6:33
Jane Blackwell - 8:00
Simon Turner - 8:00
Sara Burdett - 5:40
Robert Pyke - 10:30
Joseph O’Sullivan - 8:36
Ross Lenton - 11:06
TOTAL - 1 hour 20 mins!
5 Essentials of Nutrition
Nutrition is a complex thing, but there’s some essentials that everyone needs to know and a lot of people mess up on a few of them. Here’s the Dynamic Fitness guide to some of the basics of nutrition.
1) Eat every two to four hours:
Recent research shows that eating at regular intervals stimulates metabolism, balances blood sugar and reduces the impulse to overeat when you do get to meals. It doesn’t have to be a full meal every time, just something to stimulate the metabolism.
For example, bad nutrition timing is eating at 8am for breakfast and then not eating anything until 2pm and then don’t eat again until nearly 8pm. With this timing your metabolism slows down during the gaps, causing you to cling onto calories as fat, and when you do it spikes up making you feel even hungrier and prone to overeating at meals. Also you’d be prone to snacking in between times and grazing as you metabolism ramps back up.
A better option is to eat at 8am, have a small meal at 12pm and 4pm, and then eat a main meal at 7-8pm. This keeps your metabolism stable, reducing the urge to snack. You can figure out your own pattern that syncs up best with you day, just follow the 2-4 hour rule and remember that you shouldn’t be eating more in total, just more often during the day.
2) Eat complete, lean protein at each meal.
Good sources of protein include red meat, poultry, salmon, eggs, low fat plain yogurt, mixed beans and supplemental powders and shakes. Some experts claim that additional protien is harmful or unnecessary, but more modern and contemporary research is clear: a high protien diet is safe, an almost essential if you lead an active lifestyle. It helps with recovery and stimulation of metabolism.
3) Eat vegetables at every meal.
Vegetable help do two major things, they help to provide vitamins and minerals and also help to provide the blood with an alkaline load. Grains and proteins provide the blood with an acid load and if blood is too acidic it can lead to degradation of bone strength and muscle mass.
So with the first 3 rules in mind, carrot sticks wrapped in ham, or celery dipped in low fat peanut butter make excellent snacks to top you up at one of your meal timings.
4) For fat loss, eat carbohydrates other than fruits and vegetables only after exercise.
This encourages your body to use it’s body fat stores for your day to day needs, conserving carbohydrates for recovery and post workout nutrition. By other carbohydrates, im talking about foods like pasta, rice, bread and starchy vegetables like potatoes.
5) Eat healthy fats daily
These include monounsaturated fats (found in extra-virgin olive oil, some nuts and avocado) and polyunsaturated fats (found in some nuts, some vegetable oils and fish oil supplements)
There you are, five basic guidelines to help you get started on the road to better nutrition!
Dynamic 10 year Anniversary (Photos)
10 Top Running Tips to train for a 10k
Have you booked in for the Norwich 10k in August?
Here are top tips from Ross Lenton to help you on your way....
1. Breathing
The human body is amazing, and your aerobic energy system will keep supplying oxygen to your muscles. My top tip to my clients is to focus on exhaling – the more air you get out of your lungs, the more air you will get in.
2. Running environment
There are so amazing places to run in Norfolk. If you're looking for somewhere flat then Marriott’s way is a fantastic and quiet place to run, and for somewhere beautiful in the City try Whitlingham Lake in Trowse. For hill efforts then Gas Hill is a serious challenge!
3. Run with others
To help with commitment then get a friend to go out running with you, or join a running club. Dynamic Fitness is starting a new Running Club at Redwell Brewing on 2nd May, you can book a space here:
4. Feet
Listen to your feet. Keep them light and don't land too heavy. Whether you are a heel or a mid-foot striker make sure you land underneath a flexed knee so you are not over-striding.
5. Knees
Lift your knees, especially on the hills to keep a good posture. This is harder when you get tired so that is great time to focus on your knee lift.
6. Heels
Flick your heels towards your backside. This will to give you that extra power. You can especially see the benefits with this when running downhill; it really gets the hill doing the work for you!
7. Arms
It’s almost impossible to move your arms at a different speed to your legs, so if you find your legs are slowing down then use your arms to maintain your cadence – when your legs are tired your arms can be your secret weapon!
8. Core
Keep your core tight when you are running to maintain good posture. Planks are a great way to strengthen your core, which will also protect your lower back from the impact of the running miles.
9. Forward Lean
Have a very slight forward lean forward (from the hip not the shoulders). This will really help keep your momentum going.
10. Smile
Remember that running is a gift. Smile and enjoy it :)
Michael's Tough Mudder Training (wk 3 & 4)
Training for Tough Mudder, weeks 3-4.
If you missed week one and 2 you can check them out at:
www.getfitptblog.wordpress.com/2018/04/04/training-for-tough-mudder-weeks-1-2/
Week 3 is a low intensity week, coming in after the heavier week two workouts and alongside weeks 3 & 4’s higher intensity endurance work; this keeps the pace from being too overwhelming early on. Week four picks up the intensity again and carries on the strength building buy increasing the amount of working sets.
Looking more specifically at exercise selection, I chose the front squat as one of primary moves for the lower body for a very important reason. Jumping power and carrying strength:
Take a look at the picture there and note the guys closest to us, now look at the leg position on a front squat:
If you are on the bottom of the stack, you’re not just going to be able to shoulder press your buddy up. You’ll need some leg power to hold up the weight and drive them upwards; a solid front squat position sets you up to be the ultimate springboard for your teammates. Coupled with some jumping power to get you up there as well and you are you’ve got it made. Then it’s your buddies turn to be the spring board on the next wall so your legs can recover a bit
Endurance wise, we drop down a circuit, but also lose a rest period. On top of that each exercise now lasts 7 minutes, but you only do 5 exercises a circuit instead of 6 (alternating an additional sprint or high row between circuits 1 & 2). This is to maintain the hour and a half training slot.
This is a big jump for endurance and no means an easy task, particularly with the lunges. But lunges are massively important in a tough Mudder set up as, unsurprisingly, you’ll wade through a lot of thick mud and the ability to fully drive your legs without burn out is massive.
Want to read more? Get the full workout list and a lot more in depth detail on Mikes own blog!
Find the full article at www.getfitptblog.wordpress.com, which include run times and the endurance workout to prepare for tough mudder!
Or follow Michael on social media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gfpt_pugh
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GetFit.MichaelPugh
And book him for personal training at: www.getdynamic.co.uk/personal-training/
Michael's Tough Mudder Training (wk 1 & 2)
Training for Tough Mudder, weeks 1-2.
I did my first Tough Mudder last year and within an hour of finishing it, I’d booked my second. It’s a tough physical and mental challenge but has incredibly social feel to it, from the festival like stalls out front to the team spirit cemented through the race.
But it does require a bit of preparation; you can’t just turn up and ease your way though a half marathon length obstacle course. So over the next 16 weeks I’m going to go through my training for Tough Mudder and the specialisation I go through to be race ready.
So I keep myself in good general fitness, but 16 weeks out is when I begin to train specifically for the race, preparing directly for the challenges of the race.
My workout is split into two strength workouts, two endurance workouts and one long run with my week looking like this:
Mon - Sun: Strength, Endurance, REST, Strength, Endurance, REST, Long Run
So let’s look into the strength training:
Week 1 & 2
Primary - Front Squat, Pull ups, Shoulder Press
Accessory - DB Bench Press, Back Row, Knee Raises
The workout is split into 3 primary movements and 3 accessory movements, the Primary movements are exercises that relate directly to the obstacles that you would face. I’ll go into my choices in more detail in later articles.
Accessory exercises help balance out the workout, and provide extra training to muscle groups that would support your primary movements.
As a rule, I always do 5 sets of a primary exercise and at this point you should always feel like you should be able to do 1 to 2 more reps at the end of a set. This will change as we go though the season, working towards peak strength.
Want to read more?
Find the full article at www.getfitptblog.wordpress.com, which include run times and the endurance workout to prepare for tough mudder!
Or follow Michael on social media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gfpt_pugh
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GetFit.MichaelPugh
And book him for personal training at: www.getdynamic.co.uk/personal-training/